Rai-kumo (Ichigo\Bleach) Ch. 64

"Fire...works technician?" you ask, your eyes growing wide. "That's right," Kuukaku responds with a devilish smirk. "Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko! Pull us up!" she commands. "Yes ma'am!" they respond. You hear a loud cranking noise from outside, and within seconds, the floor begins to rumble as if in an earthquake. "Wah! The floor is moving!" Ichigo yells, as Ishida shouts, "Oi, Aki, do they have earthquakes in Soul Society?" "No!" you shout back, every bit as surprised as they are, "this is the spirit world, there is no 'earth!'" An abrupt cracking noise resounds throughout the room, and as you all watch, astonished, the black chimney projection shoots up and through the plasterings over the top of what you thought was a blocked funnel when viewed from the outside.
As its disguised exterior crumbles, the entire ceiling opens, to various cries of amazement, and its sliding halves retreat into hidden shelves the way a keyboard holder can be shuffed back into a desk. The rumbling gets louder as you realize the floor is being raised at the same time, and the vast expanse of blue sky opens above you as your platform comes to a complete stop at ground level. Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, standing a few yards away, strike an impressive victory pose, their arms out as if they were going to do the Dragonball Z "Fusion-ha" dance.
"Amazed, kids?!" Kuukaku asks, smiling openly, "This is my personal fireworks station!" "Kakaku Cannon!" Ganjyu chimes in readily, pumping his fist in the air behind his sister. "Who said you could come up here?!" she shouts, turning and delivering a solid spin-kick ("Sorry!") to her brother's chin. "This... This is no time to joke around!" Ishida suddenly shouts, jabbing an accusing finger at your host. "I don't know what kind of technician you are, but shooting us with that thing?! It's impossible! We'll die for sure--! Arghhh!!"
Ichigo catches the solid, transparent (and apparently very heavy) ball that Kuukaku bounces off of the Quincy's head. Without taking notice of the blood or the black engraved crane on its crystal blue surface, he asks, "What is this?" "It's a Reisyukaku," the fireworks master responds, "A spirit core. Hold onto it and give it your spiritual energy." Ichigo plants one hand at its base, the other at its top. "Oi..." he asks, looking confused, "How do I give it spiritual energy?" Kuukaku's face goes blank. "Huh?"
"Just focus your power on your palm like you did when learning Demon Arts (Kidou)," she elaborates in a rush, "Don't all shinigami use them?"
"Well," Yoruichi says with a slight cough, "He's not an officially trained shinigami... he doesn't know any Kidou." "What?!" Kuukaku shouts. She looks at you. "What about her?" she asks, jutting her thumb at you, her other hand on her hip. You raise your hands in the air. "Ichigo, toss!" Ichigo turns red and attempts to hide the ball from you. Aw geez, this is going to be really embarrassing. You'll definitely show him up...! "Oi, I said, toss!" you repeat, irritated. Ichigo does not comply; he just scowls at you, looking like a dog guarding its bone. "What's the matter with you?" you exclaim, stomping over, "Hand it over, dammit!" But when you reach Ichigo and try to take it from him, he moves away. Every one of your attempts to steal it is thwarted because whenever you try to take a swipe, he keeps it out of your reach. Fortunately, an idea strikes you. Faking another grab, you punch him when he moves the ball above his head (where you would never have been able to reach), forcing him to drop it. With a huff, you walk away from Ichigo's spread-eagled form lying on the grass and put both your hands on either end of it. You take a deep breath.
Just like Kidou...
The minute the energy from your hands reaches the sphere, a bright light radiates forth, encasing you in a perfectly translucent, pearly-blue sphere. "Whawhat's that?!" Ishida exclaims, as Ichigo lifts his head off the ground to look. "This is..." Kuukaku explains, "the cannonball." She raps on the large energy field with her knuckles to demonstrate its strength. But without warning, cracks grow from beneath the area of impact. "Huh?" she mumbles, turning around to look. As her back turns completely to the rest of your group, the entire sphere shatters around you, your face frozen in horror; the pieces explode in bursts of static electricity as they hit the ground, sizzling the nearby grass.
Ah...?!
"Hey, you, girl," Kuukaku calls, walking towards you. "What happened? I thought you knew Kidou?" You find yourself barely able to hold onto the ball; its surface has become slippery from your trembling, sweating palms. "I... I'm not sure..." you whisper, "But... I do know Kidou... at least, until now, I thought I did..."
"Ganjyu," Kuukaku commands with a snap of her fingers. "Yes!" Ganjyu shouts, jumping up with energy and coming towards you. He holds his hand out for the ball, which you numbly plant in his hands, wandering back to your friends in a daze, not noticing the barely concealed look of calculation Yoruichi is giving you. At the same time, Ichigo gets up and sits down next to you and the others. "Continuing," Kuukaku says, as her brother forms the solid ball you were unable to complete, "Listen up. If you all think that the wall around the city is the only defense barrier, you're dead wrong. The wall is made of a special mineral that blocks out all spiritual energy. If you don't make a hole in the wall, you can't get in. More importantly, this mineral releases a special spiritual wave from the cut surfaces. In other words, both above and under the ground, the city is covered by a sphere-shaped protection field!"
"Both above and under?" Ishida says, giving you a surprised look. "Why is Kuukaku explaining and not Watanabe? Does Watanabe not know any of this, even though she was trained at Seireitei, however temporarily? She showed no sign of knowing about the walls or Jidanbou earlier either, in fact, nearly everything up to this point in our travels had been explained by Yoruichi, and just now, her 'Kidou' failed. What's going on? Is there something terribly wrong?" Unbeknownst to you, biting your lip and fighting as hard as you can to maintain focus on what Kuukaku's telling you and ignore your humiliation and your problems, Ichigo is watching you out of the corner of his eye. He's suddenly remembering something. A couple of weeks ago, when he was training with Urahara...

"Oh! Kurosaki-san, you should take a breather. Falling on your face in the dirt is probably a good indication that you're tired."
"No... I can still fight! C-come on!" a panting, sweating Ichigo gasps as he tries to force himself back to a standing position.
"No, no," Urahara insists, waggling his finger at the struggling shinigami-substitute. "Take five, alright, Kurosaki-san? Oi! Tessai! Could you come over here a sec?"
"It's alright, Urahara-san!" you call, running towards Ichigo, who's managed to sit up. You place both hands near his heart. "I think I can--"
"There's no need for that, Watanabe-san."
You blink in surprise. "Huh?" Urahara twirls his fan with one hand as he tells you, "It's alright, Tessai's on his way, so you just go back to training your electric attacks." You look around. "But Urahara, Tessai's kind of far away! Maybe I could practice my Kidou?" The shopkeeper shakes his head. "Come on, Watanabe, you want to save Rukia or not?" You feel your face flush in annoyance. "Of course I do!" Urahara points his cane back towards where you were. "You know what to do." Grumbling, you'd gone back to your spot, not understanding why he wouldn't let you try a Kidou healing spell you'd heard about once. "Hey, Urahara," Ichigo mumbles, scratching his head, "how come you wouldn't let Aki try a healing spell? It could come in handy once we're in Soul Society." Urahara looks at Ichigo solemnly, his eyes obscured beneath the black shadow of his infamous bucket-hat. "I have my reasons, Kurosaki-san. Trust me, it wouldn't be a good idea."

You're recalling that incident just as clearly as Ichigo is, but your training did help you at least remember that you're fighting for Rukia's life, so you force it from your mind and keep listening to Kuukaku. "Therefore, if we just fly in bluntly," she says, "Our bodies, made of spiritrons, will be turned into dust. That's why we need this!" She hits Ganjyu's energy sphere with the back of her fist. Ganjyu, however, doesn't look so enthusiastic. "Hey, sis," he wheezes, looking strained and tired--he's barely standing up. "I can't keep this up." "Hold it in," Kuukaku commands, crossing her arms and ignoring him again. "My invention here creates an especially hardened spiritron shell. By providing spiritual energy to the core, you can create a cannonball strong enough to break through the protection field. I will then use the Kakaku cannon to fire you up and break you in with one clean strike. This may sound a little ridiculous, but there is no other way. That's all for now. Any questions?"
"Uh... I..." Ichigo starts, but Kuukaku cuts him off with a snap of her fingers. "Okay, meeting's over. To the training room you go! Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko, take them there!" Ichigo lets out a cry of surprise, as do you when Koganehiko simply picks the two of you up, while Shiroganehiko collects Ishida and Orihime. Chad, the largest of your group, merely stands there in muted shock, not sure what to do. "You better train hard!" Kuukaku calls to your group as you are taken away. "If you can't do it tomorrow, you'll be blasted into bits!" "What?!" Ichigo hollers, "You didn't mention anything like that earlier!!" As you are carried away, you fight to swallow your growing panic. Your Kidou failed. And Urahara wouldn't let you do Kidou before. What's going on?! What if the same thing happens again when you try to create the energy ball? Will you be blasted into bits tomorrow?
When you all arrive at the training center, you are the first to be given a ball to practice with. "Okay, Aki-dono will go first," Koganehiko declares. Your friends look at you with some apprehension. Apparently Kuukaku's henchmen have forgotten the shattering of your sphere. You swallow. You don't know what happened back there, but you won't be getting anywhere without trying first. "For you, Rukia..." "Umm..." you mumble, "Okay, here goes..." You take a deep breath, but before you can do anything, Ichigo snatches the ball out of your hands and quickly announces, "Uh, I want to go first!"
"Ichigo?" you question, but he shoots you a warning look and steps away. "So, how do you work this thing?" he demands of Shiroganehiko, showing his back to you. Ishida exchanges glances with Orihime. Ichigo just... saved you? Ishida blinks. That worried look in Orihime's eyes just now... Something's up.
"Ichigo-dono, you're doing it wrong!" one of the giants, waving his arms, shouts, "It's not 'Uwooooooo,' it's 'Waaaa!'" "Uwaaaa!!" Ichigo roars, but his kiai (martial arts shout) is still wrong, as the other guard, jumping up and down, corrects him, "No! No! It's 'Waaaa!'" In the meantime, Ganjyu arrives just in time to see Ichigo shout, "I don't get it! Can't you explain it in a language I can understand?!!"
A half hour later, they've given up on him and moved on to training Orihime. Within ten minutes, she is able to produce a perfect, glowing sphere. "Oohh! Orihime-dono, you're a fast learner!" they declare. Next up is Ishida. He, too, manages to create a sphere, but he takes twenty minutes, and what's more, his sphere is a strange sideways eye-shape. "Ishida-dono! Ooh, that's a nice ellipsoid! I think the shape has to do with your height..." Now it's Chad's turn. "Sado-dono! O...Ohh! It's not very stable, but it's packed with power!" Indeed, the light coming from Chad's circle reminds you of a bonfire glowing in the room. "Ichigo-dono!" Ichigo is bent almost double, squatting in a position like a horse stance (look it up on Wikipedia--it's another martial arts stance), gripping the ball as if he meant to break it, making a weird strained noise. Deftly, you steal the ball from him (it's a little slick... ew.) and declare, "That's enough, Strawberry-dono, you're gonna give yourself a hernia."
As Ichigo (and the others, most notably Orihime) balks at your language, you try to form a sphere, using Kidou again. "It was only one time," you think, "Nothing to panic about. It'll be okay, just relax and try again..." As before, a perfect sphere emerges. "Great!" But before long... crick, crack...! It shatters again, this time in a shower of sparks that rival any firework Kuukaku could conjure. You stand there in silent shock, still clutching the pearly ball.
"It's terrible!" the henchmen cry out. They get in your faces (you and Ichigo feel veins growing on your temples), and alternately shout, "Have either of you really been trying? I can't bear to see this! ("Nicely said!" the one who isn't talking comments) Though instead of doubting their effort, I just don't think they have the talent!" Enraged, Ichigo grabs the ball from you and chucks it at the man nearest him, although they're still continuing to shout, "Terrible! It's just terrible!" You simply curl your fists, although miniature bolts of lightning issues from them, making the other one shut up. God damn! And you'd thought you'd heard the last of this kind of talk once you'd left Seireitei the first time! Must everyone in Soul Society criticize your Kidou?!!
"I don't understand anything you just said!" Ichigo shouts, "Can you please teach using a human language?! Damn it!!" Ganjyu, bored, merely yawns from his spot on the floor (he sunk from a leaning position on the wall to a sitting position on the floor in his lethargic state), watching and listening to the fiasco that's unfolding before him.
He looks like he's having fun...
Same day, about 7:40pm
Several hours later, both Ichigo and you have taken turns stealing the ball from each other and respectively trying to make the sphere appear and keep it from breaking again... but to no avail. You only realize how late it is when Ganjyu's hench-friend with the bangs comes out from a sliding door, soup ladle in hand and apron over kimono to announce dinner. "Hey!! You guys!" Ganjyu shouts, "Dinner is ready, so go eat. You must be hungry already!" Ishida blinks. "What do you mean?"
"You won't get anything to eat elsewhere," Ganjyu explains. "People in the alley don't use their spiritual energy, so they don't get hungry." "Oh, but..." Ishida mumbles, looking back towards Ichigo, "Kurosaki and Watanabe are still..." "Don't worry about me," Ichigo mumbles, "You guys go first. I'll go after I'm done." Taking this chance to claim the ball back from him, you nod your agreement and try to form your sphere again. "If you say so, we'll go first," Ishida decides, as he and Chad turn to leave. "Inoue, aren't you coming?"
"Ah, I'm not hungry!" she chirps, "You two go first, I'll stay with Kurosaki-kun and Aki-chan." At a loud gurgle from her stomach, Ishida and Chad stare at her awkwardly. "Uhh, I was just kidding!" she lies, still smiling happily, "I'm only a little hungry..."
"Inoue."
Orihime looks up at the sound of Ichigo's voice. "Go with them," he tells her, "I don't mind." "It... it's not that!" she says, waving her hands, "I just want to practice some more; I'm not that hungry."
"Inoue..." Ichigo says quietly, the determination to succeed showing in his face. "Please." You glance at Orihime just as your recreated sphere shatters again, wanting to try to convince her to go, but at the look on her face, you stop short. She looks very taken aback, and... disappointed. You can't say you don't know why, but at the defeated, yet stricken look she shoots you, you find yourself at a loss for words. You figure a nod and a smile is the best way to go, which you offer with a wave. Orihime breaks into a smile too (although you doubt its authenticity, you're not one to talk) and scratches the back of her head self-consciously. "Oh? Okay then. Since you put it that way, I'll be going. I'm going to eat!" she declares, waving a short good-bye to all of you as she heads out of the room. "Ah... hey, Inoue!" Ishida calls after her, looking very surprised, and a little worried. "Sado-kun, Ishida-kun, let's go too!" she says, doubling back and pushing her taller companions out the door. Meanwhile, Ganjyu just sits down and watches as you tiredly toss the ball back to Ichigo and wipe the sweat from your brow.
A half hour later, neither of you has made much progress. Unable to take it any longer, you finally slam the ball into the ground in anger, only to have it bounce right back up and hit you over the head. As you slouch rubbing your skull, Ichigo walks up behind you. Thinking he's going to try to steal it or something, you crouch down and hug the ball to your chest. The words "I've still got three minutes left" are halfway to your throat before you feel a sudden pat on your shoulder. The soft touch surprises you and you turn all the way around to look. There's Ichigo. He's just as tired as you, and trails of sweat streak his temples, but his deep brown eyes show concern. "Hey," he mumbles, "You alright?" Stunned, you nod mutely. His face is so close to yours... he didn't have to squat down with you...
This change in behavior doesn't escape the notice of the otherwise seemingly imperceptive Ganjyu. He doesn't change his reclining position, propping his head up with one arm as he lies there yawning, but he raises an eyebrow, looking at you two with more interest than before. Earlier, he had watched as the Dandelion turned down Orihime's offer to wait until he finished. She's quite pretty... and obviously seems interested in him. Was it because he really wanted to train? Was he worried about her? Or could it be that he was simply too dense to detect the hidden message she was extending? Those had been the questions running through the boar-rider's head at first, and in the end, he concluded that Dandelion simply wanted to train harder until he got the sphere going. But now, seeing the way he's acting towards this Aki chick... Somehow, it seems different from the way he treats Orihime. Ganjyu scowls. "Why her, though? Orihime's obviously prettier," he thinks, in no mood to recognize any semblances of "cute" in your features. He was recalling all too well the attitude you had taken with his friends the night you'd all met for the first time. You'd reacted like a boy...
Although each of Ganjyu's thoughts clearly registers in his face, you take no notice. Instead, you're struggling to free yourself of the strange, new, hypnotic spell Ichigo's eyes have cast on you. You feel like you're being pulled into those dark, clear depths, colored like a strong Oolong tea. Ichigo must notice the slightly dazed look in your eyes, because his eyebrows knit together and he shakes your shoulder slightly. "Aki? Oi! Aki!" That does it. You snap out of it and shove the ball in his face. "Here!" you announce, your head lowered so that your bangs cover half your face. "My time's up. Take it."
Ichigo raises an eyebrow, looking confused. "Wha... you sure? I think you've still got--" "It's your turn!" you insist, still holding it about a centimeter from his nose. You can't tell if you're blushing because of how hot your workout has made you, but just to be safe... Ichigo's still hesitating, (whether out of surprise or realization, which you pray it isn't) so you demand in a tone ringing with finality, "You want it or not?" Slowly, Ichigo reaches up and takes the sphere from you. "O...kay then," he mumbles, standing up. "I'll just practice over here..." You nod as he takes a few tired footsteps away from you. You decide the farther away from him and his eyes you are, the safer you are. "I can't believe this. All that training made me snap," you think, shuffling over to where Ganjyu is, and resting your back firmly against the wall. As you take your break, you watch Ichigo, but when you see his eyes again, you bite your lip and avert your gaze. You're so distracted that you don't realize Ganjyu's watching you, so you're surprised when he suddenly addresses you.
"Oi," he mumbles gruffly.
"What?" you return, if not a bit cautiously.
"That guy..." Ganjyu muses, "What is he to you?"
...
"What do you mean?" you ask warily. "What was that back there?" Ganjyu inquires casually, not taking his eyes off Ichigo, still trying in vain ("Uwoooo!") to materialize his sphere. "What was what?" you shoot back, a little too quickly, "I don't know what you're talking about. If it was about the way I treated the ball, I'm sor--"
"That's not what I meant," Ganjyu says, cutting you off.
"Then what?" you ask, getting irritated.
"That girl, Orihime," he continues, "She's real nice to him, isn't she?"
You cringe in shame, remembering that originally, you had gotten roped into Tatsuki's plot to help the cheerful girl score a date with Ichigo. And now...
"Yeah, she is," you sigh, looking at the floor. You may be slightly dazed, but you're aware enough to realize you don't like what this guy's insinuating.
"We're all friends," you tell him, with more firmness than you feel.
"Just a bunch of good friends."